Only one week remained until July 28th.
But why would Damien leave Sophia a ssage like that?
Lucas couldn’t make sense of it—no matter how many tis he turned it over in his mind.
...
anwhile, Vivian sat in her car, furiously spraying mouth freshener into her mouth.
Her face twisted in disgust. God, it still stinks!
"What the hell happened?" she muttered, gripping the steering wheel.
Her mind replayed the humiliation in Lucas’s office over and over again.
Could those kids have done it on purpose?
"Damn it," she hissed, slamming her hand against the wheel. "Of course—they’re Sophia’s kids!"
It hit her like lightning.
Those children weren’t innocent—they were Sophia’s radar, her little spies, sent to scope her out.
Every one of them was a pair of Sophia’s eyes planted in Lucas’s life.
Vivian clenched her jaw, thinking of Lucas’s distant, uneasy expression earlier.
Her perfect image—years in the making—had collapsed in a single afternoon.
"Sophia..." she said under her breath, her tone sharp as glass. "I didn’t plan to interfere between you two. But you made your target first. Fine. From this mont on, our little war officially begins."
Her car engine roared to life. The black sedan pulled away from Hilton Group’s front entrance.
...
At Morgan Group, Paul stord through the lobby, his face tight with unease, a folder clutched in his hand.
Sothing wasn’t right.
Sophia had sent him to retrieve a file—but the mont he left, she imdiately left the office as well.
She’d deliberately gotten him out of the way.
He pushed open the office door.
Without even looking up, Sophia said calmly, "Secretary Smith, I’ve always appreciated your efficiency. Didn’t expect you to be back in just half an hour."
Paul was still slightly out of breath, sweat glistening at his temples. He forced a professional smile.
"You said it was urgent, Miss Morgan. I wanted to make sure you got it as soon as possible."
"Good," Sophia replied, taking the file from him. "That’ll be all for now. You can go."
Paul nodded and left—too quickly.
But instead of heading back to his own office, he went straight to find Ernest, who was busy monitoring the company’s cybersecurity system.
"Secretary Smith?" Ernest looked up, half-smiling. "What brings you here?"
"Did Sophia co by earlier?"
Ernest blinked. "No, why? What would Miss Morgan want with —co to check on my progress?"
He laughed lazily, as though the idea amused him.
Paul’s brows furrowed. "Are you sure?"
He was tense—because this wasn’t a small matter. The archive room contained everything: contracts, classified data, internal financial records.
If Sophia had been snooping, she could’ve seen far more than she should.
And what bothered him most—when he reviewed the footage from his car—was that Sophia had been gone for a full thirty minutes.
Yet when he returned upstairs and opened her door, she was already back, sitting calmly behind her desk, as though she’d never moved.
Paul’s voice dropped cold. "Ernest, I hate being lied to. Don’t forget—you work for Andrew, not Sophia. If I find out you’re covering for her, there won’t be a place for you in this company."
Ernest shrugged, feigning innocence. "Believe what you want. Andrew values my work—am I supposed to betray him for no reason? I’m loyal, not stupid."
Paul glared at him before turning on his heel and heading straight to the security room.
He’d get the truth himself.
"Secretary Smith," one of the techs greeted him nervously, "what can I do for you?"
"Pull up the footage from outside Miss Morgan’s office—half an hour ago."
The technician tapped a few keys, and the feed began to play.
There was Sophia, strolling through the break room, sipping coffee with perfect composure.
Then she wandered briefly around the hallways, stopped by the washroom, and finally returned to her office.
Not once did she approach the restricted archive area.
Paul frowned. Impossible.
Had he been imagining things?
He turned to the staff again.
"Did you notice anything unusual about Miss Morgan today?"
The man shook his head. "No, sir. Everything seed perfectly normal."
Paul’s lips pressed into a thin line—but deep down, he knew sothing wasn’t right.
Paul nodded slightly, closed the door behind him, and walked away.
He strolled past the break room just as soone else ca in. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he spoke casually, "The coffee’s been tasting better lately."
The young woman beside him froze for a second, then smiled. "Secretary Smith, you think so too?"
"Too?"
"Yeah! Miss Morgan just ca by earlier—she said the sa thing, that it’s gotten really good lately."
The woman’s tone was light, but to Paul, the words landed with weight.
He masked his reaction instantly, his earlier doubts dissolving like sugar in coffee.
...
Inside the office, Sophia sat behind her desk, staring down at the docunt in her hands—but her mind was still trapped in the secret records she’d just seen in the confidential archive room.
Paul was suspicious by nature. He was loyal to Andrew, not to her.
She knew perfectly well that while he smiled to her face, he was probably already digging into where she’d gone during those thirty minutes.
Sophia’s lips curved in a faint, knowing smirk—but it faded just as quickly.
When the clock struck quitting ti, she grabbed her coat and headed out.
From a distance, she spotted her six kids waving wildly.
"Mommy!"
They charged toward her like a small army of joy.
"Mommy, are we really going to the amusent park today?"
Sophia’s eyes softened, her smile blooming. "That’s right."
Angela hugged her tightly, giggling. "Mommy, we successfully defeated the enemy today!"
Sophia laughed, stroking her daughter’s hair. "Good job, sweetheart."
Then she looked over to see Lucas standing at a distance, watching them but not moving.
"Why are you standing there?" she called.
Lucas walked toward her slowly, his expression helpless. "I lost again."
It took her a second, then she rembered—their morning bet.
She chuckled. "Don’t worry, I’ll collect later."
Turning back to the kids, she said, "You daddy promised you he’d take you to the amusent park. Your daddy wouldn’t dare break his word, right?"
"Daddy! The amusent park!"
Their voices chid together, full of excitent.
Lucas sighed, amused. "Alright, let’s go."
Dinner first, then straight to the park.
The six children bolted ahead toward the bumper cars, squealing with laughter.
Sophia’s eyes followed them, soft with affection.
No matter how smart or mature they acted, they were still just kids.
Then a hand slipped around her waist.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Lucas tilted his chin toward sothing ahead. "You dare go in there?"
She followed his gaze—the haunted house.
The most terrifying one in all of City A.
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn’t I dare? Don’t tell you’ve never been to an amusent park before."
Lucas smirked faintly. Truth was, he hadn’t.
While other kids were running around with balloons and cotton candy, he’d been studying college-level economics—and by eighteen, he was already conquering the finance world.
Hilton Group didn’t rise to global prominence by chance; his success was the result of brutal discipline.
"Mommy! The haunted house!"
Faye’s tiny voice called out as she pointed eagerly toward it, fresh from her bumper car victory.
"Faye, you sure you won’t end up crying in there?" teased Charles.
"Charles, you’re an! I don’t like you anymore!"
Faye grabbed Eric’s hand instead. "I like Eric better!"
Sophia burst out laughing. "Alright, alright, enough bickering. Let’s go before the line gets long."
They started walking toward the haunted house when Charles suddenly tugged her sleeve.
"Mommy, I need to pee."
"You—ugh, fine. The restroom’s that way. Go quickly, we’ll wait here."
Charles nodded, running off happily in that direction.
Sophia turned her head back toward the haunted house entrance, amused by the pale faces of people stumbling out—when suddenly, a scream cut through the air.
Her expression froze.
The sound ca from the direction of the bathrooms.
Her heart dropped.
Charles!
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